The Associated Press has reported that Jordan is enacting legislation aimed at its hard-line Muslim opponents. The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood believes that is has been specifically targeted. According to the report:
Jordan’s government is targeting its hard-line Muslim opponents with legislation restricting demonstrations and is pushing for constraints on non-governmental organizations and Christian groups in a rollback of promised political reforms. The country’s largest political opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said Tuesday that the measures were part of a government effort to suppress the opposition. Human Rights Watch also responded with concern Tuesday, pressing the government to drop the legislation. The measures mainly target hard-line Muslims and leftists, who are vocal opponents of Jordan’s moderate policies, its pro-American stances and its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Although both bills refrain from mentioning them by name, public protests are mostly staged by those groups…..One of the measures, which parliament is likely to debate and approve soon, would give the government considerable control over non-governmental organizations by requiring official approval for donations, budgets and finances. It also allows authorities to shut down organizations for minor violations.The proposed NGO law would require Western charities and Christian groups to be approved by the government, which would monitor their finances and transactions. It also bans them from receiving foreign aid, which is the only source of income for most groups, including church charities. The move could virtually lead to the closure of several organizations….The other law, which was approved last week, restricts people’s right to gather or hold demonstrations. It eases some limits from a previous law on public gatherings but maintains the necessity for government approval. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement said it believed it was specifically targeted by the laws. “They are martial laws meant to rob the Brotherhood of its freedom and undermine its role in the country,” said Jamil Abu Bakr, the Brotherhood’s deputy chief. He said both laws should never have been introduced in the first place.
Previous posts have discussed the latest develoments in the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood which suffered severe losses in the last elections.